


Movement in the Shadows

by Ghost0



Series: The Brave & The Bold (A DCEU WonderBat Story) [1]
Category: DC Extended Universe, DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:48:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29664762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: After stopping an alien invasion, Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham and resumed his duties as Batman. He starts to notice something odd about the pattern and behavior of a group of robbers. Meanwhile, a painting Bruce donated to The Louvre a long time ago to be stored away has been stolen. Diana heads back to Gotham to ask Bruce for his help in tracking down the thief.
Series: The Brave & The Bold (A DCEU WonderBat Story) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2179917
Kudos: 2





	Movement in the Shadows

Rick took less than a minute to hack into and disable the security system, allowing them to slip into the store with ease. Everyone took care not to break any glass or to leave any DNA as they grabbed as much jewelry as they could. But their leader knew that ultimately, tonight was going to end in only one way. He wore all black, like the other four members of his group. His blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail, a five o’clock shadow covering his chin and lower jaw. He stood guard and kept lookout while they cleaned out the store. Even though it wasn’t that dark out quite yet, no one seemed to be out in public. If there was anyone out, they would probably try and get out of sight as quickly as possible. Not that they particularly feared them. Hell, he would be surprised if anyone here actually knew who he was. No, they would get out of the way because they would sense what was about to happen. It was that same sense he was starting to pick up on now.

One of the guys, Danny, came back towards the door and poked his head out. “Don’t you want to come here and get some of this?”

He shook his head. “Tell everybody it’s time to head out.”

“We barely just got here!” Danny said with a quiet surprised tone. 

“Trust me.” Arthur shot Danny a stern look. Shrugging his shoulders, Danny went back inside and told everyone to hurry up and to get out. Arthur moved towards the van and opened the door while his crew exited the store. But from above, a dark figure descended and took down two of them as he landed. The vigilante’s fists extended outward on each side and took down two of the guys, their loot falling on the sidewalk. The other two quickly reacted by trying to gang up on him. Arthur reached inside the van to grab a weapon while his crew tried to keep their attacker at bay. Slowly, the guys that got punched and fell down were trying to gather their strength and pull themselves up. Fists ready, two became four in an effort to overwhelm their opponent. But the man in black was able to push back, forcing Arthur’s crew to almost fall backwards. But their leader took the chance to raise his trick gun and fire it at the man in the black cape. The vigilante grabbed one of Arthur’s men and used him as a shield. The projectile hit Arthur’s guy square in the back, the force of impact making him cry out in surprised pain. Smoke wrapped around the guy, originally meant to stun and confuse the caped crusader. The hit guy was thrown at one of the other guys, knocking both of them out. It was back to two on one, but the attacker got his second wind and summoned some of his martial arts training to quickly take down both of them.

Now it was just Arthur and the Batman. The man in black stood up and looked right at the criminal leader. The black bat symbol was large on his chest, his eyes peered at Arthur through the holes in his mask. A look of intense anger met the blonde man’s eyes. The man with the ponytail pulled out brass knuckles from his pocket, his fist clenching tightly. He lunged forward in an attempt to connect his fist with the Batman’s exposed jaw. But Arthur was the one who ended up being punched. Batman’s fist flew forward, and when it came back he used the back of his hand to slap the other side of Arthur’s face. The dark knight then wrapped his arm around one of Arthur’s, a quick and firm pull up and to the side forced the arm to be dislocated from Arthur’s shoulder. The criminal grunted and cursed. Batman brought his fist back up to punch Arthur in the face several more times until he allowed him to fall onto the ground. A brief pause, but then Batman leaned over Arthur and delivered a couple more punches, making sure the leader was knocked out. 

Batman took in a few deep breaths, looking around him to make sure the entire crew was knocked out cold. He then activated the communication device within his cowl. “Alert GCPD of a thwarted robbery on the corner of France Avenue and Dixon Street.”

“Already done sir.” Alfred’s voice responded. Batman turned around and walked into the alley near the jewelry store. “A report just came in about gunshots a couple miles west of your location. I’m assuming you will be turning this into a full night considering you got your main targets so early in the evening.”  
“Send me the location of the shooting to the Batmobile. I’ll head back after I deal with it. Pull up the report about the bank robbery from two months ago, as well as the string of painting robberies from one month ago.”

Batman stepped inside the Batmobile and turned it on. The vehicle’s GPS showed him the location of the reported shooting, pulling out quickly and speeding through the streets of Gotham City. When he arrived, it appeared to be a shootout between two rival gangs. He used his vehicle to get in the middle of the conflict, jumping out of his vehicle and taking on the gangsters himself. A part of him took note of the general age of the local gang bangers. Most of them couldn’t be much older than twenty years old. Old enough to know better, according to him, so he didn’t hold anything back. But he tried to be as efficient as possible. Unlike the robbers, there was more than five and these people were clearly inexperienced, especially when it came to actually fighting hand to hand. As soon as he was done, he jumped back into his vehicle. But not before part of him made him take one look at just how young some of these guys were. But the moment passed quickly and he left the scene, just as police were approaching. 

He took his secret route, towards the secret entrance that would take him underneath the lake and into the Batcave. The ground opened up, allowing him access to a ramp that allowed him to descend underground. After reaching the bottom, everything leveled out and he pulled up close to the underground lair. The door opened and he pulled himself out, his hands reaching up to pull the mask off. He walked forward and up the steps. Alfred stood over a table, inspecting one of the grappling hooks. Bruce walked past him and towards the computer screens, sitting down and looking at the reports that were pulled up. “I don’t suppose you being back so soon means you prefer eating popcorn and watching a movie.” Alfred said.

“Two months ago, a group of five men robbed Gotham National Bank, stealing twenty-five million. They wore masks and gloves, but the criminals at the jewelry store tonight share similar body builds according to what was written in the report based on eye witness accounts.” Bruce pulled up a couple of stills taken from security cameras inside the bank. The clothes the robbers wore in the pictures looked the exact same as the ones from the jewelry thieves tonight. “Even though they also wore gloves tonight, they didn’t wear masks. But why go from a bank to a jewelry store?”

“If these are the same men, perhaps they wanted to keep a low profile.”

“But they would still wear the masks. They were right out in public, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t have been spotted by someone passing by.” Bruce took down the security camera pictures and brought up pictures of mansions and penthouses. “Between the bank robbery and today, there was a string of break-ins. All of them were homes of some of Gotham’s wealthiest people. Various paintings were stolen from all ten homes. And at every one, they took pictures of the jewelry in all the homes and left them at the scene.”

Alfred looked up and towards Bruce sitting at the computer. “Aside from reminding me that Polaroid cameras still exist; what connection is there between all three of these crimes?”

Bruce typed on the keyboard. “The last place that was broken into was the home of Alastair Morrison. Prior to the break in, he recently bought out a home repair store and laid off all the employees. One of those employees was part of the group I ran into tonight.” A mugshot of the leader of the robbers was on screen, with the name at the bottom. Arthur Brown, recently unemployed and divorced five years ago. He also had a criminal history. Mainly assault, most likely due to consuming too much alcohol. Some petty theft back when he was younger. It seemed like some of his friends had similar pasts. Bruce leaned back in his chair and looked at the mugshot on the screen. “The pattern doesn’t make sense. Why start with a bank robbery and descend from there? And why leave pictures of jewelry in the homes, leaving a clue to your next job?”  
Alfred walked over and examined what was shown on the screen. “Whatever mystery is here; it won’t be solved tonight Master Bruce. Right now, I believe the best thing to do is to step back and to attend to your duties as Bruce Wayne.”

“I need to get the GCPD to allow me to interrogate Arthur- “

“I’m sure you can intimidate your way into Blackgate to question him later. It’s not like he will be going anywhere once he is inside.” Alfred turned around and cleaned up some of the tools he was using. “Right now, you have to make sure that renovations of Wayne Manor can finally be wrapped up. And you have an event to attend in a few days that you can’t ignore.”

“I know, Alfred.” Bruce sighed as he continued to look at the screen. The gala was something that had come up a few times, especially after running into the city mayor earlier this week. He was the one hosting it, and since Bruce funded his campaign for mayor, he had to fulfill the obligation. Leaning forward, he turned off the screens and got up from his chair. “If you have this much energy to keep hounding me about the Manor, I would think you could use that to fix it up yourself.”

“I would if I could.” Alfred said. “But the renovations are too much for one man to take on. But unlike you, I know my limits and don’t plan on pushing past them.” Alfred started to make his way to the staircase to head back up to the lake house. He turned around with one step on the stairs. “Will you be needing any dinner this evening?”

Bruce shook his head. With that, Alfred took his leave and went up the stairs to the world above. Slowly taking off his outfit, he put it back in the display in the wall that opened up. He put his clothes back on, taking one last look at the Bat suit before closing the display. He didn’t take a look at the glass display near the stairs, but a cold feeling wrapped around him as he ascended and walked past the glass display. The lights of the Batcave went out once Bruce had fully exited the lair.”

******

The car stopped in front of the entrance into The Louvre. One of the police near the door opened it and helped out the woman. Diana confusingly examined the French officer and his partner who was talking to a couple of the museum’s security guards. She held her arms in front of her, holding her black overcoat closed around her body. Having been called up late at night, she wore running shoes which was in contrast to the dress pants she wore. But it was clear that appearance was one of the furthest things on everybody’s minds. The officer who helped her out escorted her towards the entrance doors and held it open for her. Once inside, she saw her boss talking with a couple of other officers. They pulled away from him and he made his way over to her. He was a bit of an older man, his hair was turning gray and his age was starting to show in the wrinkles on his face. But right now, Diana was focused on the look of concern in his eyes.

“What is going on? Has someone tried to break in?” Diana asked in French. 

“Not try. Someone succeeded.” He told Diana. His head turned around and looked backward to the pieces that were in the immediate vicinity. “We are looking around the displays to see what has been taken. But so far, we have been unable to locate anything missing. Only a matter of time until we figure out though.”

Diana looked around as well, walking around her boss. “Did security get a good look at who broke in or what exactly happened?” She turned back around to meet him in the eyes. He scratched the back of his head and let out a deep sigh.

“One of them was knocked unconscious. By the time one of the other guards came across him and woke him up, any sign of the attacker was gone. To be honest, we aren’t even sure if anything has been stolen. But, like I told those men, you don’t go to the trouble of attacking someone just to simply take a look at what is inside.” He shook his head and waved his finger in the air. “No. You plan on taking something for yourself in order to go through all that trouble. Diana, can you take a look at all the pieces we have down below that are currently being restored or have been stored away? The chances of one of them being stolen is more likely considering we have yet to find anything.”

Diana nodded and made her way to the hidden stairs that would lead her to the basement of The Louvre. Turning on the lights, various different sculptures were on the floor and the walls had cabinets that housed dozens of different paintings. All donated in the hopes that lost and forgotten paintings could finally be restored and be properly admired. She grabbed a clipboard from a nearby table and went through all the slots and checked to see if any occupied spots were empty. Diana found what she was looking for. But there is always a chance someone checked out the painting on the computer. She turned and went behind the desk to sit down, putting in her credentials and starting up the system. After confirming that the missing painting from the slot wasn’t checked out for any reason, she looked up what the painting was that was supposed to be there.

She leaned back in her chair when she looked up the information that was available for the missing painting. It was donated well over a decade ago, closer to two decades actually. Bruce Wayne gave it to The Louvre, along with a healthy financial donation. But the one condition he had regarding the painting was that it should never be put on display. Basically, he wanted them to store a painting away forever. This brought up a lot of questions, ones that she felt she needed to ask Bruce directly. Her mind wondered back to the night when they ran into each other, back when she was trying to reclaim the picture that Lex had kept for himself. In many ways, Bruce had the characteristics of a stubborn warrior. Someone who has spent warriors fighting alone, cutting off all potential ties and connections he didn’t deem necessary. Yes, there was a ruthlessness that she sensed from him immediately. But that was not all that she sensed from him. It is hard to fully describe, partly because even to this day he has kept so much about himself a mystery. She has seen his hideout, but not the entirety. There was a floor that he didn’t allow anyone else to access besides himself and his butler. But she can’t blame him for putting up guards. Diana stood up and looked around her, leaning back onto the desk and folding her arms. When she thinks back on the decades she remained in hiding, part of her regrets not trying to do more. 

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs prevented her from going too far into her memory. “Have you found anything?” Her boss asked her.

Diana brought herself back into the present, standing straight and clearing her throat. “Unfortunately, a piece is missing.”

“Shit!” He cursed. A hand reached up to rub his face, which now showed hints of internal panic. She thought for a few moments, coming up with a cover that would work.

“I have a friend in the States that might have some knowledge regarding the black market. He could point me in the direction of who could be interested in such a piece.”

He looked back up at her. “Then tell the officers about him. Surely they know who to contact and can figure out a way to question him.”

“But by the time the red tape has been cut through, the piece will most likely find its way into the hands of someone who knows how to keep it secret.” He reluctantly nodded in admittance. She extended her hand out to gently hold his arm. “I know some people who can provide a private jet to leave tonight. It’s not instantaneous, but it will be much quicker. Plus, if by chance the suspect is delivering it to someone who resides in the States, I will be on hand to identify it.”

He thought for a few moments. Then he nodded and waved his hand. “Go, everything here can wait until you come back.” Diana took her hand and went back up the stairs and out of The Louvre to her car. She started to make a couple of calls, apologizing for the lateness but explained the situation as efficiently as she could. By the time she got to her place, she had secured a ride on a jet. She rushed inside and up to her home, gathering what she needed, mainly her armor. It was secure in a trunk that she pulled out from underneath her mattress. When she opened it, she paused briefly. Her mind thought back to Steve Trevor. While there are times when she thought about him, she wasn’t quite sure why he came to her now. Her mind recreated the image of the plane exploding in the air above the burning German base, as well as the last moment they shared in the US capitol before she realized she had to renounce her wish. Her hands reached down and packed it into a bag underneath a couple changes of clothes and other supplies. Once she got everything, she went back down and left to board the jet heading for Gotham.

******

Arthur was escorted by prison guards down a long hallway. They stopped in front of an empty cell, opening it and pushing him inside. Once the door was shut tight, Arthur stepped backwards toward the door so the guards could take off the handcuffs. He rubbed his wrists afterwards while the guards walked away. He turned around and saw that Rick and Danny were in the cell across from his. Rick looked up and examined Arthur from across the hall. “Damn boss, you look like shit. The Bat got you pretty good.” Arthur didn’t say anything. The left side of his face was badly bruised and his broken nose hurt like a son of a bitch. But at least the paramedic that looked him over popped his shoulder back into place. It was still sore and a bit painful, but nothing he couldn’t walk off.

“I knew I should have stopped you from taking those pictures.” Danny shook his head and looked over. “Why the fuck did you have to take pictures of their fucking jewelry? They were going to put two and two together sooner or later.”

“Relax boys.” Arthur grabbed onto a couple of the bars in front of him. “You know where the others are?” Danny shrugged and shook his head. Arthur thought for a moment, which ended with him shaking his head. “No matter. If they want out badly enough, they’ll find us.”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Rick smirked. “This isn’t Arkham and you are no Joker.”

“Don’t need to be. Can’t tell you everything right now, but believe me. We won’t be here for long.” Arthur stepped back and sat down on his bed. Danny and Rick curiously looked over at him for a little longer before eventually getting into their own beds. He doesn’t blame them for being skeptical and doubtful. They were only ever told what he felt they needed to know. But now he is going to have to let them in on the big picture. Grinning to himself, he went over everything that will happen next, making sure he was mentally prepared.


End file.
